TEAM KARLIE
If you have had any experience running at all, whether it has been for competition or pleasure, then chances are you have endured some form of fatigue. Imagine that you are competing, and just when you are at your weakest and are ready to quit, you come upon a beautiful high school girl pushing a large jogging stroller; riding along is a vibrant young girl wearing a pink bike helmet and an enormous smile. Your pain begins to subside and your heart begins to swell as you realize that you are witnessing the true meaning of strength and determination. If you have not had the opportunity to run behind or beside Team Karlie at an annual Owensboro running event, then you have not truly experienced running to its full potential. What started with a vision six years ago, has now become a source of community inspiration.
Karlie Hempel, the team’s namesake, was born 17 ½ years ago as a full-term infant without complications. At the age of 19 months, a developmental specialist diagnosed her with static encephalopathy, also known as Cerebral Palsy. Although it was believed that she would be on the mild spectrum, she is actually categorized as moderate, non-mobile, and non-verbal. However, she is 100% receptive and can communicate with those that are willing to take the time to interpret her actions. Karlie can communicate by nodding or shaking her head, “Yes” or “No.” She is able to use some sign language, as her hands are almost fully functioning. Those close to her have created “Karlie’s adaptive signs,” as signs they recognize for certain things that she is able to communicate through the limited use of her hands. She also has a Vanguard augmentative device which allows her to type and share simple words and phrases with others. In elementary school, Karlie became easily frustrated because others could not understand her, and she was sometimes labeled a behavior problem. However, that all changed once Karlie reached Burns Middle School. Through the compassion and ingenuity of special services teacher Amanda Owen and Team Hoyt inspired health specialist Jeff Miller, Team Karlie was born. There was however, one more key piece to the puzzle: eighth grade cross country runner and peer tutor, Lauren Tucker.
Lauren admits that when she initially met Karlie that was her first interaction with a child in a wheelchair. Yet there seemed to be an immediate connection between the two “happy, outgoing, girly girls.” What started out as a day of bonding over a game of checkers, became an inseparable friendship and partnership that is fundamental to the core of Team Karlie. When Karlie made her transition to Apollo High School, Lauren was not only her peer tutor, but was often used as a reward in the afternoons if Karlie accomplished her necessary tasks for the day. While Lauren started out that eighth grade year running beside Karlie in the large jogger, she is now the only runner who pushes Karlie. Currently a freshman and Exceptional Education major at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Lauren makes sure that she is home for every race and works at Puzzle Pieces to spend additional time with Karlie when school is not in session. During visits, Lauren asks Karlie about her day and is patient in waiting for a response by listening and carefully observing her body language. On her approach to how she responds to Karlie, Lauren offered this, “She is almost the same age as me…if she was not in a wheelchair people wouldn’t treat her differently. She can respond, it’s figuring out how she responds.”
This year brings about a new set of exciting challenges for Team Karlie. Serving as Grand Marshall for the 2014 Color Run 5K, the team now has its eighth jogging stroller, thanks in part to a generous donation by Blue Meridian. Not to mention, Lauren has also been training and lifting weights for an upcoming triathlon in June. Her goal is to pull Karlie the required 400 meters in an inflatable boat before then completing the 5K running portion. In reference to Lauren’s character and heart for Karlie, Kathy Hempel, Karlie’s mom, says, “I’ve never in my life met a more outstanding person.”
– Melody Ann Wallace